Best Live Acts

Remove all ads!

I got this idea from Jellybee's topic...

What are the best concerts you have ever seen? Obviously it is a thrill to see live any band you are really into, but some bands fall flat live, and some far surpass their albums.

For me...

Shonen Knife, Hollywood Palace.
You got the feeling most of the people there started out thinking that they were -- I don't know, so twee they were cool, but everyone was won over in the end and moshing like maniacs.

Funkadelic, Hollywood Palace.
(Jealous, Jack Funk?)
To hear the best funk musicians in the world play in a small club with a big dance-floor is an experience. They played for three hours, and no booty in the place stopped shaking during that time.

Sylvia Juncosa, Raji's (Hollywood)
She is brilliant -- the most interesting guitar player in the world in punk or any rock genre, and this was another small club. I had seen her many times, but that show just caught fire.

Me, the Soul Shack (Hollywood)
It was just so much fun, singing in a band with my best friends -- and this was at the club where I DJed, it was packed, and they were just eating up everything we did -- even the Stooges cover, which a bunch of mods might not ordinarily like. Boys were actually screaming my name, and that rush of power was quite intoxicating.

I guess, now that I think about it -- all the best concerts I've seen have been club shows. Big concerts do not seem, for me, to allow you to really get lost in the music -- the sound is not great, and you're so far away. Nirvan, for example, were great, but I saw them at a sports arena -- the Forum in Inglewood, so they don't make the list.

What are the best concerts *you've* seen?

 

I got to go to the Family Values Tour when I lived in CA, and just recently I went to an Everclear concert, as well as Tool's last concert here. I might be going to the 311 concert comming up, and if I win tickets, I'll go to The Ozfest down in LA!!! But thats the thing, I don't have tickets. I really want to go to the Ozfest, so if you have tickets and need someone to go with, I'm right here waiting for you to email me!!!

 

One word...Pantera

 

Those old Michael Jackson acts had pretty good turnouts.

But, upon watching Woodstock and Family Values tour... they take my vote.

:

 

I'm going to see LIVE live tomorrow night!!! I hope they're good! I haven't seen them play in person since before they became a big name band!

I used to see them play at a place called the Chameleon in York, PA...Many moons ago! My friends band opened for them a few times! I can't wait to see them!

WhooHoo!!!

 

I went to a AC/DC concert once, and they really rocked!! There's nothing like a man jumping/running/crawling around playing his guitar! And holy s**t it was loud!! It was so loud that I could barely hear people talk the next day! Therefore I include a warning:
Large doses of AC/DC is bad for your hearing

 

Oasis Live are amazing, Finsbury Park (london) was imo far better than glasonbury

 

Since foreign bands avoid my country like the plague, I've never really had the chance to see some bands I'd wanted to see live.
But, judging from what I've read, listened and saw - either on tv or the net, I'll give a couple of guesses to which bands could be really good live...

Dream Theater - I've recently read a rewiev of a concert in Budapest and I gotta say I've never seen so much praise for a concert in my life. It didn't surprise me, considering the level of musicianship and live stuff I heared...
An interesing thing is that DT also has "cover nigts", when they cover in whole a classic album. The only example I 've heared so far is Master Of Puppets by Metallica, but playing a cover during a standard concert isn't also rare...

Symphony X - another band with great musicians and with songs that can have a great "impact" live. Not to mention a virtuoso guitarist who alone is enough for something indimenticable...

Iron Maiden - with Maiden you always have a great show. The whole stage setting, pyro, Eddie, hordes of fans who know every word to every song...Must be really something...

I'd also say that Rhapsody and Therion could be something special live, judging by the songs. Both have rich orchestration and choirs, but it depends how much of that is used live. It's probably mostly tape, but I've read about Therion using vocalists live, though...

[ August 11, 2002, 00:11: Message edited by: Elendil ]

 

WOW! shonen Knife , I haven;t heard of them for ages - I saw the Ramones play live once in '93 on their farewell tour, that was awesome.

The best evening's playing was at Reading 2000 (which reminds me, the line up for this year is fantastic...): Gomez followed by Beck followed by Pulp. Splendid - Beck went over the top with the "avante garde"ism, and the last part of his act (a kind of theatre) didn;t work well at the festivl, but it was a splendid evening.

I've seen Dylan play twice, and though both times have been underwheling, he has such a presence that he can (and frequently) does play crap, and gets away with it.

 

Well, I'd have to say this swedish reggae/blues guy... called Peps Persson, but noone outside of sweden will have a clue, so I'll take something else...

Hmm, I saw Mike Patton's new band Tomahawk at a club, very cool show. I can't say I like their album too much, but they really made those songs take off live. Great musicians, though not in the showoff sense, which was a welcome change after seeing Dream Theater two weeks before...

I was also very impressed with Ed Harcourt and Lambchop... I saw both at the same venue, this old, old closed down theater that is now used for concerts. Perfect venue for that kind of more laidback music.

 

Methyl, yes I am jealous. I saw Funkadelic a while back at the Jai Alai in Hartford CT. Due to the venue, the show wasn't that good. I can't imagine how awesome it was for you.

AC/DC - Any concert that begins with a wall exploding and the band members jumping out through the hole, and ends with cannon fire, has to kick ass.

Ozzy - When I saw him at the New Haven Coliseum, he was out of control. They played the intro to Paranoid for about 4 minutes while Ozzy stoked the audience up with foul language and a water cannon. Awesome.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - One of those shows where the band and the audience bonds. I felt like I was personally rocking with the band.

Deep Purple - Never seen a bad show by these guys.

ELP (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) - Keith Emerson on his back with the organ on top of him during Tarkus. I've seen them twice and both times was blown away.

Yes - I just saw them on 8/4 (I also saw them in 1983). They put on a excellent 3 hour show despite poor weather (at an open backed venue) and a pretty small crowd. I thought they would mail the performance in, but they didn't.

I have been to many shows over the years and may add more as I give it more thought.

 

The best gigs I've ever been to have always been very small and low-key, but very noisy. I saw a band from Iceland called Mínus who were absolutely mind-blowing, almost like a giant wall of white noise (hey, I'm into that sort of thing). I couldn't hear for about four hours after that. I also couldn't move my neck the next day. Another amazing band I saw were the Dillinger Escape Plan - very noisy, but very precise, and full of very complex jazz-style time changes. I came away thinking "I've just seen into infinity" or something as equally pretentious as that. I'm hopefully going to see them again in London this September...

 

I remembered another one -- I mentioned this in a Psychedelic Rock topic (http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=001950#000000) ...

The Butthole Surfers (Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles)
I saw the Surfers in Los Angeles in 1988 -- they opened with "Sweat Loaf" (a bizarre reworking of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf")-- a tropical fish video is projected over them and there is a naked girl covered with glow-in-the-dark paint dancing around as the the guitarist and bassist light their hands on fire (wearing an asbestos glove or something) and play the song that way, and later smash their flaming instruments. That was the first song. It was enough to induce a pychedelic experience, if I had not already been having one.

 

I would love to seen Nirvana that's one of my favirotes but no he had to die (I'm blanking on his name). My dad said the best concerts were the ones that were at bars in Minniapolis (check spelling I can't think tonight) he said one of his favirotes was huskerdoo. Anyways I would like to see Green Day and my mom said i could go once but then they sold out like the first day damn it. I would've also liked to see Rage Against the Machine but they had to break up damn it I hate life.
Sorry I love music I would die if I did not have it if I did not have music I would die almost anything I due I have music with it. I'm not good at playing music in any way though I often like to joke about singing though. I'm a joker and I love it.

 

Kiss. I've seen them many times.
Deep Purple. Loudest band I ever saw, even louder than Kiss.
Rainbow. Van Halen and Black Sabbath.

 

Kiss was superb. I saw them twice (on the same tour). The first time was at a larger venue and they put on an awesome show. Explosions, fire breathing, amazing light effects, levitating platforms. It was wild.